Gas pipeline advisory services accord inked

KABUL (PAN): Representatives from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have signed the Technical Advisory Service Agreement (TASA) for the TAPI gas pipeline in Ashgabat.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Wednesday said the agreement was signed at a meeting held at the Ministry of Oil and Gas in Turkmenistan from November 20-21.

Afghanistan was represented by Nasir Ahmad Durrani, deputy minister of mines and petroleum, and a representative from the Afghan embassy in Ashgabat. Durrani expressed his satisfaction with progress on the project.

While appreciating the Asian Development Bank’s role as technical facilitator, he reaffirmed Afghanistan's commitment to supporting the project implementation.

All parties agreed to authorise ADB to continue its work, the said spokesman, adding the secretariat promised to prepare all required documents for the ‘operations agreement’ by Nov. 29 and invite the parties to sign it.

Signing of the TAPI ‘operations agreement’ is one of the key steps toward implementation of the project. Member states agreed that in case of inquiry for additional gas by any buying country, they should inform the selling state (Turkmenistan) 48 hours in advance.

He said during the meeting, specifications and quantity of the gas such as amount of sulfur and other chemical contents were also discussed.